The U.S.-Mexican Border in the Twentieth Century PDF
Preview The U.S.-Mexican Border in the Twentieth Century
Page iii The U.S.Mexican Border in the Twentieth Century A History of Economic and Social Transformation David E. Lorey Page iv © 1999 by Scholarly Resources Inc. All rights reserved First published 1999 Printed and bound in the United States of America Scholarly Resources Inc. 104 Greenhill Avenue Wilmington, DE 198051897 www.scholarly.com Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data Lorey, David E. The U.S.Mexican border in the twentieth century / David E. Lorey. p. cm. (Latin American silhouettes) Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 0842027564 (paper : alk. paper). —ISBN 0842027556 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. MexicanAmerican Border Region—History—20th century. 2. United States—Relations—Mexico. 3. Mexico—Relations—United States. I. Title. II. Title: United StatesMexican border in the twentieth century. III. Series. F787.L67 1999 972'.1—dc21 9912906 CIP The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for permanence of paper for printed library materials, Z39.48, 1984. Page v In memory of my father, Emmett Lorey (1928–1998), whose immigration to California after the war was one of the millions that shaped the contemporary border Page vi About the Author David E. Lorey received his B.A. in history from Wesleyan University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Latin American history from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). From 1989 to 1997 he was coordinator of the Program on Mexico and visiting professor of history at UCLA. He also has taught Latin American history at Pomona College, the University of Southern California, and the Universidad de las Américas in Puebla, Mexico. Since July 1997, Professor Lorey has served as program officer for Latin America at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation in Menlo Park, California. His publications include The University System and Economic Development in Mexico since 1929 (1993); The Rise of the Professions in Mexico (1994); United StatesMexico Border Statistics since 1990 (1990); and United StatesMexico Border Statistics since 1900: 1990 Update (1993). Page vii Contents Preface ix Introduction Defining the Region, Objectives, and Approaches 1 Chapter One 15 Distinguishing Characteristics and Early History: Frontier, Borderlands, Border Region The Colonial Period: Life on a New World Frontier 17 From Frontier to Borderlands 23 Conflict between the United States and Mexico 28 Early Border Phenomena 30 Chapter Two 35 Booms and Busts on the Border: Economic Development, 1880s to 1920s The First Border Boom, 1880 to 1910 35 The Border Economy during the Mexican Revolution 40 Prohibition on the Border 45 Early Free Trade 49 Page viii Chapter Three 53 Life on the Border: Social Change, 1880s to 1930s 1880s to 1910 53 Causes of the Mexican Revolution 56 The Social Character of the Revolution in the Mexican North 63 The Revolutionary Period on the U.S. Side of the Border 66 Transboundary Population Movements during Revolution, Prohibition, and 69 Depression Chapter Four 77 Booms and Busts on the Border, 1930s and 1940s The Great Depression 78 World War II 82 Chapter Five 93 Economic Trends Since 1950: Legacies of the Wartime Economy The Border Economy Comes of Age 94 Mexican Government Policy and the Border: PRONAF and BIP—the 103 Maquiladoras Chapter Six 117 The Consequences of Rapid Growth in the Border Region: Social and Cultural Change Since the 1940s Population and Migration 118 Urbanization 124 Mexican Americans 134 The Impact of Migration on Sending Communities 137 Cultural Evolutions 139 Chapter Seven 153 U.S.Mexican Relations at the Border: 1890s to 1990s The Elusive Boundary: Water, Environmental Issues, and Drug Trafficking 154 Migration 162 NAFTA in the Border Region 169 Suggested Readings 183 Index 189 Page ix Preface This book had its genesis in a course that I taught on border history at UCLA in 1996 and 1997. When I complained to Richard Hopper, general manager at Scholarly Resources, that no basic text on the history of the U.S.Mexican border existed, he suggested that I turn my lecture notes into just such a book. Without fully appreciating all that the conversion would entail, I agreed. A year after I last taught the course, the work was finally completed. This volume, like the course, draws largely upon the work of others. I owe a major debt to the historians who have chosen the border as their territory. As a field of study, the border is not a forgiving master. Primary sources and the secondary literature are difficult to access. The physical terrain lacks many comforts. The border region is still a geographic discipline too often relegated to secondrank courses and career tracks. And promotion and tenure are often less secure for border scholars than they are for other academics. Page x Of the brave historians who have taken on the border, the group involved in the National Endowment for the Humanitiesfunded Borderlands Atlas project at UCLA (of which I was a late inductee) has earned my greatest appreciation. I have relied extensively on their work and that of Norris Hundley (the project's organizer). I have also borrowed from the published and unpublished work of many other border historians. In the text, notes, and suggested readings, I have attempted to acknowledge their contributions. Chapter notes are limited to the most essential references; a more ponderous scholarly apparatus would be of little use to the student or general reader and would be superfluous for the expert already familiar with the literature. I hope that I have slighted no one by omission or misrepresentation. All errors of fact or interpretation are, of course, mine. From the outset I conceived of my contribution to this project as a synthesis, highlighting the common themes that run through border historiography and focusing on the big picture. Thus, I have organized my review of recent border research around what I see as the central issues in the evolution of the region: boomandbust cycles; federal subsidization of borderregion economic development; the resourcefulness of border peoples, past and present; and the richness of border culture. During the course of the project, I incurred many specific debts. An inner circle of border historians—in particular, Paul Ganster and Oscar Martínez, both of whom read the entire manuscript—provided constant support, generously sharing their research and improving my work with their detailed criticism. Bill Beezley guided me dependably and well in this as in other joint ventures. Both Enrique Ochoa and my father repeatedly inquired about the book's progress, reminding me not to let up. My colleagues at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, where I currently serve as program officer for Latin America, provided a highenergy intellectual environment and the challenging perspectives of their several disciplines. Mariana Alvarado offered crucial, lastminute bibliographical support. And Rick Hopper at Scholarly Resources gave me the timely encouragement I needed to keep me going. D. E. L. MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA Page xi
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